They were all purchased from Formaggio Kitchen in the South End. We love this place and will surely miss it one day.

From left to right in the photo, they are: Dotzinger, Las Mil Ovejas, Cobb Hill Ascutney Mountain, Schwarzenberg Tilseter, and Robiola di Roccaverano.

Dotzinger: Camembert-like cheese from Valais, Switzerland, made from cow's milk. Tastes like a good Camembert, good strong smell, but fairly mild, texture is very creamy and good.

Las Mil Ovejas: This was actually a freebie thrown in from our Formaggio friends when they found out the cheese was part of an anniversary celebration. This is made from sheep's milk in Extramedura, Spain. It's pretty strongly flavored, like a parmesan, but is creamier in texture. Kind of a dry taste.

Cobb Hill Ascutney: Made from cow's milk in Hartland, VT, this cheese is very similar to a cheddar, but has its own character. It's aged for a minimum of 8 months and is a harder, richly nutty flavorful cheese. It has just a hint of crystals like you'd find in an older Gouda. Very good.

Schwarzenberg Tilseter: Made from cow's milk in Austria, this cheese has a dark orange-colored rind. It almost has a 'burning' or spicy taste, especially when you get some of the rind. We like it better sans rind. Kind of hard to describe really, but the cheese itself is rather soft and creamy. It's a strong flavor, probably not for the meek.

Robiola di Rocaverrano: I have difficulty learning much about this cheese from the internet. It sounds like it is more of a style than a very specific cheese brand/name. No matter, it's definitely from Piedmont, Italy and made of goat's milk. It definitely has a goat cheese taste and mouthfeel-- sort of similar to the way ricotta feels a little bit like small dry pieces in your mouth, then just a mild clean cheese. But this one has quite a "bloom" on it (mold), giving it a little special funk, as the Formaggio folks pointed out. It was definitely the smelliest of the cheeses coming out of its wrapper. Excellent cheese.

We took a small vote (sample size=2) and decided on the following:

Coming in at #5: Las Mil Ovejas. Kind of unfortunate since this was our freebie, but it was just too strong of a cheese to eat in much quantity with bread. When we tasted it at Formaggio, she shaved it really thin for us and Alli really liked it. But we were cutting chunks of it and the texture wasn't as good that way. Won't be buying this in the future. We're still very thankful for the gift.

#4: Schwarzenberg Tilseter: Also strong in a very different way than #5. We could eat it again, but it won't be very high on our list.

#3: Dotzinger: It's a very good cheese, and we would definitely get it again, but there were also better ones...

#2: Ascutney Mountain: Just yum. Not so adventurous, just a little bit of an exotic cheddar... yet it definitely isn't cheddar. I could eat it all day, and will certainly have it on my list of cheeses to get again.

But coming in at #1 was the Robiola di Roccaverano. It was just different enough to be exciting without going overboard with funk or spice or anything else. A very difficult contest between #1 and #2 requiring several re-tastings before final votes were placed.

Anyone else have a great cheese recommendation? If you are in the Boston area definitely get yourself to Formaggio and try one of the top 2.

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About K+A

Kyle and Alli live and work out of their house now that they are the proud owners of a home [loan]! They have two awesome babies (code names: Hamish and Fauntleroy). They are still on a big adventure, but this one earns fewer frequent flier miles. They are still--thank the Lord!--each other's favorite.